24 July, 2020

A new species of Didymocentrus from the Lesser Antillean island of Martinique



Rolando Teruel and Karl Questel have recently published a description of a new species in the genus Didymocentrus Kraepelin, 1905 (Diplocentridae) from  the Lesser Antillean island of Martinique.

Didymocentrus martinicae Teruel & Questel, 2020

The new species is edemic to Martinique and its small satellite islets Gros Îlet and Îlet-à-Ramiers.

Abstract:
A new species of the diplocentrid scorpion of the genus Didymocentrus Kraepelin, 1905 is herein described from the Lesser Antillean island of Martinique. It long remained misidentified as Didymocentrus lesueurii (Gervais, 1844), the only species of this genus inhabiting the adjacent island of Saint Lucia. The direct comparison of adults of both sexes from these two islands revealed solid morphological characters, which warrant their recognition as two different taxa. Each one is endemic from a single major island, where it is widespread even in its satellite islets. This addition raises the known composition of the genus to 12 species, 10 of them exclusively Antillean.

Reference:
Teruel R, Questel K. A new Lesser Antillean scorpion of the genus Didymocentrus Kraepelin, 1905 (Scorpiones: Diplocentridae). Euscorpius. 2020(313):1-15. [Open Access]

Family Diplocentridae

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